Chelsea Manning May End up in Prison Because of Her Senate Run

There may be some unintended consequences for Chelsea Manning who just launched a challenge for incumbent Democrat Ben Cardin’s Maryland Senate seat.

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Formerly known as Bradley before joining the ranks of open transgenders, the Army soldier was convicted under the Espionage Act and sentenced to 35 years in prison for providing hundreds of thousands of classified documents to WikiLeaks.

Outgoing President Barack Obama commuted Manning’s sentence after seven years and spared her decades in prison but in an ironic twist of fate, Manning could end up behind bars over her Senate campaign.

The reason? Manning is still technically an active-duty member of the military while the appeal process plays out and is forbidden by Defense Department regulations from running for political office.

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She can get permission, but it can only come from Secretary of Defense James Mattis.

Chelsea Manning has filed to run for Senate as a Democratic candidate in Maryland, but such a run subjects Manning to prosecution for violating Pentagon regulations on political activities, according to former military lawyers.

Dru Brenner-Beck, retired Army judge advocate general and president of the National Institute of Military Justice, told The Daily Caller News Foundation that on the face of it, Manning is prohibited by Department of Defense regulations from running for office while serving in an active-duty capacity. The only exception is if Secretary of Defense James Mattis grants explicit permission, a power that cannot be delegated by a secretary to anyone else.

According to Brenner-Beck, the regulation in question is DOD Directive 1344.10 Directive 1344.10, Political Activities by Members of the Armed Forces, dated Feb. 9, 2008, para. 4.2.2.

“That paragraph is punitive and violation of it subjects her to courts-martial for violation of a lawful order or regulation under Article 92,” Brenner-Beck told TheDCNF. “Her activities campaigning for herself and fundraising for herself may also violate other provisions of the DoD Directive, themselves separately punishable under the UCMJ, art. 92.”

Brenner-Beck added that prosecution in this case is a “discretionary decision by her chain of command.”

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Brenner-Beck, however, believes that prosecution under the Trump administration is not out of the question because of Trump’s active involvement in disparaging Bowe Bergdahl, who was on trial for desertion and misbehavior before the enemy in Afghanistan. Brenner-Beck believes Bergdahl represents a blatant example of disregarding the principle of avoiding unlawful command influence. Trump blasted Manning in January 2017 after Obama commuted his prison sentence, calling him an “ungrateful traitor” who never should have been released.

The Daily Caller also cites another former military lawyer who adds “It’s prohibited for the obvious reason that you don’t want someone serving two masters on active-duty.”

Considering Manning’s incendiary political statements since Obama gave her a get out of jail free card this could quickly turn into a thorny political issue if the rules are enforced and Manning ends up being sent back to prison.

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As Brenner-Beck stated in the article, President Trump was quite clear about what his feelings were about Ms. Manning:

Ungrateful TRAITOR Chelsea Manning, who should never have been released from prison, is now calling President Obama a weak leader. Terrible!

The DC also points out that if the Pentagon chooses to ignore the issue that others could use it as precedent to run for office themselves.

In the current climate of controversy over Trump’s efforts to reverse Obama’s policies on transgenders in the armed forces, it is not out of the question that some who feel that they are being unfairly persecuted may be inclined to turn to politics which would create a host of disciplinary issues.

Manning has become such an icon to liberals and LGBTQ activists that locking her up would instantly elevate her to martyrdom.

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Donn Marten is a libertarian critic of corrupt entrenched power and the civil liberties shredding police state that protects it. He is a freelance writer based out of the Tampa Bay area where he currently resides with his family.